Thursday, February 25, 2016

While you weren't looking, Common Core hijacked the GED (General Equivalency Diploma) that dropouts trying to reconstruct their livelihoods have used for decades. Actually, English publishing firm Pearson took over the GED a couple of years ago and decided that it must reflect the Common Core standards that most Americans now reject. The necessity to recalibrate scores reported in the paper recently shows only the tip of the iceberg.Pearson decided that those seeking this high-school equivalency diploma must then enter college. No doubt, some do; however, for many years the GED has been the entry point for dropouts seeking better jobs, not more education. Probably Pearson drank Obama's Kool-Aid that everyone in America should go to college. Whatever the reason for this disastrous decision, those hurt the most are the ones who can afford it the least., Numbers taking the test have also plummeted, thanks to the $120 fee, access to a computer, and access to a credit card now required. As one report puts it,

"And there are serious repercussions. As national economic policy is emphasizing more adult education programs, and most jobs (even Walmart shelf stockers) require a high school diploma, the new GED test has pretty much moved the goal posts way back. And that includes the incarcerated, where so many prison re-entry education programs include getting the high school drop-out population to pass the GED test.

“Project Learn, the local program contracted to tutor inmates in the Cuyahoga County Jail, saw a total of 80 inmates pass the GED test in the past three years, but only one county jail inmate has passed so far this year.”

The rhetoric about the Common Core is misleading. Infusing Common Core into the GED is a huge error. It has made the GED so rigorous that vast numbers of young people will never pass it. Do they’re really need to master algebra to work as a laborer in the construction trade or a shelf stocker at Walmart? Do they really need to demonstrate close reading skills to get an entry-level job to support themselves and their families? Why erect a barrier so high that large numbers of people will be trapped in poverty, unemployment, and unskilled low-wage jobs?--Diane Ravitch's blog

Even now in 2016, Pearson had to revise its passing score to improve results. No one faults the 571 South Carolina students who now have passed. The retroactive adjustment to those who took the test after January 2014 is simply a mathematical way to improve Pearson's results. It's time to take back the GED from the Brits or get rid of it altogether.

2 comments:

Anonymous
said...

"Do they really need to master algebra to work as a laborer in the construction trade or a shelf stocker at Walmart? "

No. Just like they don't need a high school diploma or GED to work those jobs. This "attack the test" mentality is ridiculous. Districts are now offering credit recovery, block scheduling, virtual schools, charter schools, magnets, summer school, early bird classes, late bird classes, and on and on. If a student ignores the flexibility and multiple chances now offered and choose to quit school, they should have to pay more money and face a more rigorous test. After all, they know best.

I think this is a serious sense of reckless. Not only that, but, the eye of the beholder really is messing things up for a future future. If we had people just stay blindly at education out of fear of the reprecussions of ragequitting like Final Fantasy V, and getting stuck on other people's dough and having posses in Collegetown because they can get a better deal than at home, is just another round in the gaming. The bar is lower, already, as is without new issues duncing the limbo bar.